Ginobili torches Magic for 43 points in Spurs' win

Apr 3, 2010 - 4:46 AM
By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO(AP) -- Manu Ginobili will be a free agent this summer.

His price might be going up by the game.

Ginobili scored a season-high 43 points, his fourth 30-plus game
since replacing Tony Parker in the starting lineup last month,
and the San Antonio Spurs completed a weeklong sweep of the
Eastern Conference's three division leaders with a 112-100
victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.

Tim Duncan had 23 points and the Spurs temporarily pulled
themselves out of the last playoff seed in the West, where San
Antonio is bunched up with Portland and Oklahoma City in a race
to avoid the No. 8 spot.

Eighth means a likely first-round matchup with the Los Angeles
Lakers, who San Antonio will get next Sunday. But the
rejuvenated Spurs aren't withering lately against the NBA's best
like they were earlier in this underachieving season.

Orlando was the third division leader the Spurs knocked off in
the past seven days. It started with a home win over Cleveland,
followed by a blowout in Boston.

The Spurs have yet to clinch a playoff berth, but with seven
games left and a seven-game lead over Memphis, they inched
closer.

"We couldn't beat anybody the first 40, 50 games of the good
(teams)," Ginobili said. "I'm very glad we started doing it.
It's better late than not doing it at all."

Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus had 18 apiece for the Magic,
whose three-game winning streak ended in Texas one night after
beating Dallas. Dwight Howard had 10 points and six rebounds,
but hit just 2-of-11 free throws as the Spurs fouled him at
every opportunity down the stretch.

Howard said he was frustrated by the Hack-a-Howard game plan.

"My mind wasn't on the free throws. It was on the coach for the
intentional fouls," Howard said. "Really upset about that."

Howard was 2 of 6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. One
fan behind the Magic bench who heckled Howard to "Work on your
free throws!" was removed from the arena after Howard said he
continued to shout as other Magic players told the man to calm
down.

"Sometimes people can take it too far," Howard said. "It's a
great thing to have fans come to the game, but once you attack
somebody personally, guys sometimes take that serious,
especially after a frustrating night."

Howard's night ended by fouling out with 3:06 remaining.

Fittingly, it was Ginobili who drew the foul.

He then stepped up and sank two of his 14 free throws, having
missed just three on the night. When Ginobili hit his last two
foul shots with 49 seconds remaining, a chant of "M-V-P!" swept
through the AT&T Center.

For the Spurs? Without question.

It looked bleak for already-underachieving San Antonio when
Parker broke his right hand March 6, but Ginobili has carried
the Spurs to a 10-5 record without their starting point guard.

The Spurs avenged a 26-point loss to Orlando on March 17 that
was their worst of the season. Duncan had five points in that
loss and was 1 for 10 from the field, the worst shooting
percentage game of his career.

"Everybody in the league has frustrated nights," Van Gundy said.
"I saw Tim Duncan after 12 years have one of those frustrated
nights against us in Orlando, so let's not pretend it's just
Dwight. I saw one of the calmest guys in the league have a very
frustrated night and do nothing but complain when he was in
Orlando. It happens to everybody."

Duncan took a seat early after being whistled for three fouls in
the first 4 1/2 minutes of the game. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
didn't last much longer.

Official Tony Brown ejected him just before halftime while
Popovich - who picked up his first technical arguing Duncan's
early fouls - protested that Ginobili deserved a foul shot after
being bumped by Howard on a jumper.

But Ginobili hardly needed help finding ways to score.

By midway through the third quarter, Ginobili already had nearly
half of San Antonio's 70 points. The Spurs call it "Manu being
Manu" - drawing a foul on 3-pointers, pulling up for jumpers and
recklessly barreling toward the basket.

Manu has been Manu a lot lately.

Since being thrust into the starting lineup 14 games ago,
Ginobili is averaging 25 points - about 11 better than what he
gave the Spurs each night before Parker's injury.

Ginobili's resurgence is likely benefiting him as much as the
Spurs. The 32-year-old will be a free agent this summer and is
proving he's still one of the league's most dynamic guards after
injuries slowed him down the past couple years.

Ginobili was 13 of 25 from the field and hit three 3-pointers.

NOTES: Ginobili's last 40-point game was Feb. 21, 2008, when he
scored 44 in a win over Minnesota. ... Popovich said before the
game that Parker is still on track to return as early as the
final week of the regular season.